Fit-City 3:

Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice
Introduction to Report: Fredric Bell, FAIA, Executive Director of the AIA NY Chapter ...................................................................................................1
Introductions to Fit City 3 Conference: Commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH .......................................................2
and Commissioner of Design and Construction David Burney, FAIA.................................................................................................................................................................................3

Opening Keynote Excerpt: Dr. James F. Sallis, PhD.......................................................................................................................................................3

Making Progress in New York City

Promoting Active Living through the Public Realm .....................................................................................................................................................5

Supporting Bicycling and Active Transportation.........................................................................................................................................................7
Establishing Healthy Lifestyle Opportunities for Our Children ....................................................................................................................................9
Addressing Health Disparities Among Socioeconomic Groups....................................................................................................................................11
Meeting Private Market Demands for a Fit City.........................................................................................................................................................13

Closing Keynote Excerpt: Jan Gehl, Hon. FAIA ...........................................................................................................................................................15

Resources .............................................................................................................................................................................................................19
Credits.................................................................................................................................................................................................................20

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
This report marks the third year of a rewarding partnership between the
AIA New York Chapter and the New York City Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene. The Fit City 3 conference in May 2008 featured not only
public health officials and architects, but Commissioners from five City
departments, urban planners, parks experts, bicycle advocates, real estate
developers, and many others.
The goal of this years conference was to take the lessons from previous Fit City
dialogues and explore how scientific research on obesity and physical activity,
and the design and planning principles that have been found to be effective
interventions for better health, can become urban policyboth for City
agencies, and in the standard practice of real estate developers and architects
working in the private sector.
To be informed about Fit City programs at the Center for Architecture through
our calendar and event mailing lists, and to see publications from previous
years, please visit www.aiany.org.
Sincerely,

Fredric Bell, FAIA

Executive Director
AIA NY Chapter

INTRODUCTION

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH AND MENTAL HYGIENE
COMMISSIONER THOMAS R. FRIEDEN, MD, MPH:
Obesity is an epidemic, and its gotten worse faster than any of us could have
predicted. Its not because our genes have changed, or because weve gotten
more gluttonous. Its because our environment has changed.

elevators to be used less often, except of course by people with disabilities.

Stair prompts at elevators and escalators can increase stair use significantly.
Thank you for your interest in this conference. I look forward to us all working
together not just to create a fitter city, but to see the physical changes created
by the concepts that were discussing today.

Collectively, New Yorkers gained 10 million pounds between 2002 and 2004.
In those two years alone, an additional 170,000 New Yorkers were identified as
obese. There were increases in obesity for almost all racial and ethnic groups.
Globally, as well, were seeing a big increase in obesity. We are exporting our
successful model of unhealthy living. And obesity starts early. Only half of our
young children are at a healthy weight.
From 2002 to 2004, an additional 70,000 New Yorkers were diagnosed with
diabetes. In 2004, there were at least 700,000 New Yorkers with diabetes. In the
past fifteen years, the number of people with diabetes has more than doubled,
leaving this population with a very high risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney
failure, blindness, and amputation. Anything that reduces our weight or
improves our fitness is going to have a lot of positive impact. Even if theres no
reduction in obesity, an increase in fitness reduces risk of cancer, heart disease,
and high blood pressure.

NYC DOHMH/DDC Stair Prompt,

launched at Fit City 3 Conference.

Stair-climbing, particularly in a city as vertical as New York City, is something

that has a lot of potential. It has been shown to raise good cholesterol and
improve cardiovascular health. Two minutes of stair-climbing a day burns
enough calories to eliminate more than a pound of adult weight gain per year.
Active design of buildings and land use can promote physical activity. Did
anyone whos new to this building see the elevator when they walked in?
No. So all of you either transported yourselves here magically or you took the
stairs. And that is, in fact, the way we would like to see buildings designed.
We would like stairs to be open, attractive, and pleasant, and we would like
2

INTRODUCTION

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
COMMISSIONER DAVID BURNEY, FAIA:
A couple of years ago, when Commissioner Frieden and the Department of Health
first opened the discussion about health and active design, I was, as an architect,
a bit skeptical. I thought, well, what can designers really do? But I must say over
the last year or so, with these Fit City conferences and the work were doing with
the Department of Health, Ive really changed my view of it. And I think now that
its an idea whose time has come. Health has started to cross and connect with all
sorts of other different disciplines and fields of inquiry in architecture.
For example, as explained in the Mayors PlaNYC, walking and biking support
not only our health but also our air quality, reducing auto emissions and making
the citys environment healthier. Recently weve been in discussions with the
Department of Aging about the increasing numbers of seniors in our population.
Sustaining the quality of life of those seniors is very much connected with mobility.
Seniors who stay mobile, who walk, and who exercise, live healthier and longer lives.
So that is another issue that fits in very well with the active design program.
I recently ran into a Department of Health initiative to address the current
proliferation of these disposable water bottles, which are now filling landfills all
over the country. And the Department of Health is firmly encouraging people to
drink water instead of high-calorie beverages, and to use refillable bottles. We at
DDC are now looking at putting bottle filling stations into public spaces. It all comes
together into one effort towards active design. It gives us plenty of material to cover
in the Active Design Guidelines that were working on with the Department of
Health. Were also introducing active design as an innovative portion of the LEED
certification system. Soon, well be able to actually accredit buildings that have
active design features.

OPENING KEYNOTE EXCERPT

DR . JIM SALLIS, PHD:
Across the world, about 2 million deaths a year are attributed to physical
inactivity. And thats about 200,000 deaths per year in the United States. To put
that in perspective, smoking is still the number one preventable cause of death with
over 400,000. Physical inactivity is second with 200,000. And, third, is alcohol at
about 100,000. So, in fact, physical inactivity is one of the leading health problems
in the U.S. and internationally. Were not going to solve the obesity epidemic until
people are more physically active.
Jim Sallis identified three ways of promoting physical activity which have been
shown by Active Living Research to have tangible results:
1) Maximize opportunities for physical activity by maximizing the design and
usability of stairs in buildings.
2) Promote active transport to encourage walking and bicycling by enhancing
neighborhoods with mixed use and connected streets.
3) Promote active recreation and increase access to well-designed parks and
playgrounds to encourage bicycling, walking, running and movement.
Throughout the report, there will be references to research on these and other
design-based solutions to the obesity crisis.

I want to end by introducing our new stair prompt, which has been designed to
encourage people to take the stairs, not the elevators. Its soon to be seen in a
building near you, and you can get it for free by calling 311.
3

INTRODUCTION

OPENING KEYNOTE EXCERPT

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

GOALS:
To encourage active living for city
residents by shaping the public realm.
To better welcome pedestrians to the
built environment by minimizing sidewalk
congestion, creating access to a closedoff waterfront, and making green more
prevalent than pavement.

Active street in Hunters Point

redevelopment district.
View of 55th Avenue.
Rendering by FXFOWLE Architects LLP,
Tom Schaller

ILLUSTRATION

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC:

The quality of the built environment does impact the lifestyle choices of city
residents. As Dr. James Sallis said in his keynote address, there are more and more
studies showing that having good sidewalks will get people out walking for
recreation. The idea is that we have to design cities in a way to make it pleasant,
to make it attractive, to make it desirable to be physically active.
New York Citys network of public spacesparks, sidewalk cafes, and open
spaces, as championed by Department of City Planning Commissioner Amanda
Burden, Hon. AIA NY, will encourage an active lifestyle among New Yorkers.
Were creating a pedestrian-oriented city by creating inviting public spaces that
are part of the everyday life of the old and the young, in winter and in summer, in
the day and in the evening. It will be a truly democratic and a healthy city, which
invites residents and workers and tourists alike out of doors and out of their cars.

Alexandros Washburn, AIA, the Departments Chief Urban Designer, described the
zoning mechanisms that will build a fit city. Transit-oriented development zones
will place more housing near public transit, so that cars become less and less a part
of city life. Stairways will be re-prioritized with better amenity and visibility to
encourage their use. Street tree and side yard regulations, passed last winter as part
of PlaNYC 2030, will prevent the paving-over of green spaces and mandate tree
planting, creating welcoming places for people to walk in every neighborhood in
the five boroughs. And neighborhood rezonings, like Greenpoint/Williamsburg, and
new projects like Hunters Point South, are also designed to help the Fit City cause:
the goal is active and walkable streets, light and air for everyone by controlling the
bulk of the buildings that go up, and access to parks.
Stephanie Gelb, AIA, Chief Architect of the Battery Park City Authority, noted
that these sorts of characteristics are already part of our favorite New York
neighborhoods. At Battery Park City, for example, ample parkland, safe streets,
public facilities, and mixed uses all contribute to a community where people
feel comfortable being outside and active. This is just what you do when youre
building a successful neighborhood.

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

GOAL:
To make bicycling in New York City safer
and more common, and to promote as
often as possible the use of alternative
forms of transportation.

Ninth Avenue Bicycle Lane.

Photo by NYC DOT

ILLUSTRATION

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC:

Commissioner Ja nette Sadik-Khan of the New York City Department of
Transportation declared that New York City has a natural advantage with our
extensive public transportation system. It allows people to walk, to get on a bike,
to get on a bus, or to get on a train. The question before all of us is: how do we
maximize that natural advantage? The Department is working to do just that by
promoting biking as an active, green, and healthy form of transportation. They are
on track to complete 200 miles of new bike lanes and paths between 2007 and
2009. Protected bike lanes, free helmets, and more and better designed bicycle racks

are also part of the Departments effort. As Jim Sallis pointed out, a study in
Portland, Oregon found that half of bicycle trips were taking place on bicycle lanes
and paths. Cyclists are seeking out the protected places, where they can feel safe,
Sallis observed.
Government agencies are not the only ones who have taken up this challenge.
Through a future zoning modification, as well as building owner and employer
initiatives, bicycle storage and racks will become more common in both public and
private buildings. With all of these steps, bicycling will continue to gain stature as a
convenient, safe, and healthy way to move around New York City.

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

GOAL:
To encourage children to develop habits
of active play and physical activity,
helping to prevent childhood obesity and
reverse current obesity trends.

South Oxford Park Ribbon Cutting.

Photo by Malcolm Pinckney/Parks Department

ILLUSTRATION

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC:

As Assistant Commissioner Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP described, the obesity
epidemic is affecting not only adults, but children all over the country. Children
who are not physically active are at much greater risk for obesity and obesity-related
diseases such as diabetes. There is a wealth of research to suggest that the mere
presence of park and recreational space in a community will have an impact on the
health of neighborhood children. New York City officials spoke of several creative
strategies to maximize these types of facilities.
Commissioner Adrian Benepe of the Department of Parks and Recreation described
his departments mandate through PlaNYC to improve public school yards so that
they are accessible after school hours and on weekends as public playgrounds. The
Parks Department has already started construction on many playgrounds, and by
the end of the current administration, they will turn 290 schoolyards into active
spaces where children can play. The Department is also striving to emphasize
active park programming. One of the things we need to do is anticipate the new
recreational trends, said Benepe. For example, were building cricket fields to
accommodate new immigrant groups, and soccer has taken over from football as
the major fall sport. We are getting beyond the staff handing out a basketball or a
knock-hockey set and calling it recreation.

This attention to type of activity is crucial to creating spaces that are actively used.
Sallis observed that having recreation facilities nearby is a very important policy,
but we must also design them to maximize physical activity. Facilities like
volleyball, basketball and tennis courts encourage high levels of energy (and
calories) to be expended. In one study, Nilda Cosco found that young children
respond with more active play to compact playground areas with a mix of
natural and manufactured elements. She found that the most active landscape was
a wide, curvy wheeled toy pathway for kids to play on. Design is really crucial to
the success of a park in promoting fitness and health.
In the practice of Robyne Kassen, Assoc. AIA, playful and active uses are
incorporated into everyday structures such as benches and bicycle racks, giving
children and adults alike the experience of an urban playscape. We believe that
movement and workouts are not isolated experiences to be partitioned off from our
lives to the gym, she explained. Instead, we view our daily lives and paths as
opportunities to explode movement throughout our day, and we design for this
movement. The Whistler Olympic Village will feature the work of Kassen and her
Pedestrian Studio, in collaboration with their partner firm, Movement Engineering.

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

GOAL:
To provide people of lower income as
much access to parks, fitness facilities,
and healthy food as have those who
live in higher-income neighborhoods;
to address disparities in obesity and
health among different socioeconomic
groups.

The Kalahari, Full Spectrum Development.

GF55 Partners, LLP and
Frederic Schwarz Architects.
Photo by Bo Parker

10

ILLUSTRATION

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Low- and moderate-income neighborhoods are often less served by parks and
fitness facilities, and more served by fast food chains, than are wealthy areas.
Jim Sallis cited a study done in Austin, Texas, that also showed fewer pedestrian
crosswalks, fewer street trees, and less well-maintained sidewalks in disadvantaged
neighborhoods; the safety and aesthetics of the areas actually discouraged
activities like walking or bicycling. Its no coincidence that rates of obesity and
related chronic diseases like diabetes are much higher among economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods. City agencies, architects, and developers are
working to address this challenge.
Full Spectrum, a company based in Harlem, New York City, builds green,
diverse projects in urban and emerging markets. Director of Development
Brandon Mitchell described the ethos behind these projects: to enhance the

11

community. Most of our retail is locally owned. We will not lease to fast food
restaurants, and we will not lease to liquor stores, he said. Active spaces are also a
priority. The Kalahari project has a green roof, to provide open space and an
opportunity for residents to really get to know each other, as well as a free fitness
center for building occupants.
Related Companies, a leading development firm with over $15 billion worth of real
estate assets nationwide, also pursues projects in densely populated urban areas
near public transportation hubs. By increasing both the density and the diversity of
housing types near transit and encouraging fitness activities, we can help to increase
daily mobility among city residents of all incomes, said Executive Vice President of
Design and Planning Vishaan Chakrabarti, AIA. We apply these principles as much
as we can to both our affordable housing developments, as well as to our market
rate developments.

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

GOAL:
To foster private market demand
for healthy living, and to encourage
developers to include health as a factor
in design excellence.

Time Warner Center, Related Companies.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
Photo by Scott Frances

12

ILLUSTRATION

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC:

As J oyce Lee, AIA, LEED AP, founding chair of AIA NYs Committee on the
Environment and Chief Architect at the Citys Office of Management and Budget,
observed, in order for Fit City to be well integrated in the urban fabric, the
citys major landlords, the developers and builders, have great potential to take a
leadership position to help guide the designing and the programming of projects.
Related Companies purchased Equinox Fitness Clubs, a national chain of
full-service facilities. Vishaan Chakrabarti explained that they have made fitness
space a very significant part of our developments. Nearly all of our buildings
include gyms and different fitness facilities, but not just your run-of-the-mill
work-out equipment placed in a room, but great facilities that are inviting to
people and help them achieve their fitness goals. This commitment helps to attract
clients and tenants, who now widely expect amenities geared towards a healthy
lifestyle.

13

In the South Bronx, where Full Spectrum is building a mixed-use, mixed-income

project called Thessalonica, the rates of diabetes and asthma are astronomical, for
the reasons described on preceding pages. Thessalonica will include a composting
area, a green roof, blackwater recycling, and a bike/kayak room, promoting an
environmentally and physically healthy environment for its residents. Its stairs are
designed to be prominent, visible, and pleasant so that they will be regularly
used by those who are able. The project site is also located near playgrounds and
educational facilities, so that resident children will have access to active play spaces
and be able to walk to school.
For both companies, projects located near transit hubs, such as Relateds Time
Warner Center and the Kalahari in Harlem for Full Spectrum, are crucial to
developing their healthy portfolio. By giving people of all incomes the ability to
live and work in areas served by transit, these projects encourage New Yorkers to live
more actively (walking up and down subway stairs, for example) and decrease the
number of cars on the street.

MAKING PROGRESS IN NYC

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

Copenhagen.
Photo by Gehl Architects

14

ILLUSTRATION

JAN GEHL, HON. FAIA

EXCERPTS FROM THE CLOSING KEYNOTE ADDRESS:
What is really wanted now is a lively and attractive city. Weve become tired of the
motor-inundated cities weve had now for 50 years, which are not very people
friendly. We want cities which are safe at all times of the day and night. We want
sustainable cities that address climate challenges. And more and more we are
realizing that we want healthy cities.
Throughout the history of cities, public space has had three major purposes.
Its been the meeting place of people; its been the marketplace; and its been the
connection space, which links together the various things in the city. The purpose
of us coming together in cities in the first place was to meet each other and to
develop our culture together. The meeting place function was always the number
one thing.
The traditional city has been around forever. Its a city where meeting, market, and
moving about is happening in the same spaces. Its happening while you are on your
feet. Its all integrated and well-balanced no function dominates the other
function or makes another one impossible. You buy an apple, you look at the girls,
and you talk with your friends. You can do everything in harmony. In economically
less developed countries we see exactly this model: everybody is out on the streets
because they have to be, and theyre experiencing the meetings, the market, and
the moving on their feet.

15

But in the past century, weve seen what I call the car invasion. In Europe it started
about ten years after the Second World War, when cars really started to pour into
the communities. And soon they filled up every nook and cranny in our cities. Whatever was given to them, they took. And the first thing that happened was that all the
people who got a car rushed down to the main streets of the cities to show the
other people that theyd gotten a car.
This was fifty years ago, and it is my opinion that at that point we started to panic.
We started to think that the major purpose of cities was to find more capacity for
more cars. And everything has been devoted to accommodating the cars ever since.
Many of the decisions which have been made for cities actually came from this
single purpose to have more capacity for more cars.
So we have the invaded cities from the mid 1950s, when the kids started to have
to run faster and faster to get across the streets, but that was only healthy for them
if they happened to get across. And there was gradually a deterioration of the
quality of cities. We got used to bad air, to too much noise, to less space, to crowded
sidewalks, and we started to define this as a good life. And gradually over the years,
more and more undignified things happened to people walking about in cities.
We had to maneuver, we had to do all kinds of slaloming between the mufflers and
the bumpers, and we forgot about why we had the cities. We were just lucky to get
through without getting killed.

CLOSING KEYNOTE EXCERPT

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

Copenhagen.
Photo by Gehl Architects

16

ILLUSTRATION

This deterioration happened over the last fifty years of cheap petroleum. And we
had, after a period of time, the next phase of city planning, when people gave up.
Then we had the abandoned cities. Especially in the United States, and you can see
them also in various Australian and Canadian locations but in these places the
environment for moving about, for walking was so bad that people completely gave
up, they went home and stayed there, and did everything from their car.
Weve seen the result of all this combined with lifestyle changes and changes in
economy: obesity. Weve seen it, weve heard about it, and there have appeared
gimmicks about how to get people into exercise, whether they want to or not.
But weve also seen lately the re-conquered cities. Those are the cities where
somebody has put down his or her foot and said, Hey, why did we come together
in cities? So that we could find as much space for driving and parking as possible?
Or were there other reasons for coming together? And of course, these cities have
started to demand a better balance between meeting, market and motoring.
They have found a better balance between vehicular traffic and other needs of
the city.
We have also started to study very carefully the importance of public life and what
it means to a society and to a democratic nation. In public spaces, we can meet our
fellow citizens, and we can see what society were a part of. Regardless of what we
see on television about this group or that group, when we go into the streets we see
that most of the other guys are absolutely all right and great guys. We need this
feeling of community in an open city and in a democratic society.

17

These cities have been striving to be lively, attractive, safe, sustainable and
healthy cities. And most of them have done it by celebrating the pedestrians
and celebrating bicycling. In Copenhagen weve decided to look at bicycling as a
type of street life. Its just a little bit faster than walking. Its the same speed as
running. And a street full of bicycles is not empty of life. A street full of cars is
full of metal but a street full of bicycles is full of people who are just moving
slightly faster.
My suggestion for a simple healthy city policy is to say: in this city we will do
everything we can to invite people to walk and bicycle as much as possible in the
course of their daily doings. That is by far the simplest thing to do, and the most
efficient. You dont have to set a certain time to go to the fitness center or go to the
park you just walk and bike in the course of your day. The word invite is crucial,
because biking or walking shouldnt be something that you will survive or is
simply possible. You really must show that people are invited. People are welcome.
Were waiting for people to do it.
Ill talk a little bit about why we walk. I take a much wider view on walking. To me,
walking is certainly not only a means of transportation, or about getting from A to
B. There is much more to walking than walking. Theres much more attached to you
being on your feet among your fellow citizens. I would say that any city could have
many people on the sidewalks. New York is an example. But thats not the mark of
a good city. A good city you can always recognize from the fact that many people
have stopped walking and started to enjoy, because the places they come by are so
attractive that they cannot resist stopping, and sitting, and enjoying, and listening,
and talking. And then they can go on walking. So whenever you see a city where
many people are walking and then not walking, stopping to enjoy, thats a city of
very good quality. But of course, we should also be able to get from A to B.

EXCERPTS FROM KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

You can walk and talk, you can walk and watch, and you can be watched. Watching
people is the number one attraction in any city, and it has always been. There
is nothing more interesting in our life than other people. By being sweet to
pedestrians in the city, and being sweet to people walking, you open up for them
doing all the sweet things which are associated with living. So be on your feet
in the city as much as possible thats good for the livability of cities, the
attractiveness of cities, and by the way, for your health.
What is good about bicycling? Some cities would say, we cant bicycle here
because its too cold, or its too hot, or its too hilly. Well, in Trondheim, Norway,
they have escalators for bicyclists to get up the mountains. Bicyclists can also put
more clothes on. Bicycling we consider part of city life. Bicyclists move slowly
enough so you can see they are people, they can talk and they can look at each
other, and they can easily become pedestrians by just jumping off. So they are close
to pedestrians.

18

And, by the way, one automobile parking spot will provide you with 10 bicycle
parking spots. Earlier on I heard someone say there was not enough bicycle parking
here in New York why dont you take 100 car parking spaces and turn them into
1,000 bicycle parking spaces? In New York you have a lot of space in your streets.
You have just used it impractically for a period of time. On a bicycle lane you can
have four times as many people as you can have in a car lane. Bicycling is very
energy-efficient. It supports a very good environment, since bicycles produce
no noise. Its also very cheap, by the way, to bicycle compared to other modes of
transportation. From the case study of Denmark we know that bicyclists live longer.
Actually, if you do 30 minutes on a bike everyday, you gain seven extra years on
your life.
So its a good idea to bike, its a good idea to walk, and its a good idea to take
the stairs. But its not enough that we simply take the stairs. We must also go out
and make healthy cities again. We must be friendly to bicycles and friendly to
pedestrians, in order to make a people oriented city.

EXCERPTS FROM KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Active Living Research

http://www.activelivingresearch.org/alr/

Fit City 1 Report

http://www.aiany.org/chapter/statements/FITCITY_PREPRESS.pdf

Department of City Planning

http://www.nyc.gov/dcp/

Fit City 2 Report

http://www.aiany.org/chapter/statements/FitCity2_Publication_Final.pdf

Department of Design and Construction

http://www.nyc.gov/ddc

Office of Management and Budget

http://www.nyc.gov/omb

Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

http://www.nyc.gov/health

Pedestrian Studio
http://www.pedestrianstudio.com/

Department of Parks and Recreation

http://www.nycgovparks.org/

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Guide to Community Preventive Services, Recommendations for Physical Activity
http://www.thecommunityguide.org/pa

Department of Transportation
http://www.nyc.gov/dot

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) StairWELL to Better Health
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/hwi/toolkits/stairwell/index.htm

Full Spectrum Development

http://www.fullspectrumny.com/

19

RESOURCES

Fit City 3: Promoting Physical Activity through Design

From Research and Case Studies to Policy and Practice

Fit Cit report prepared by the

2008 Speakers (in alphabetical order):

American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter.

Adrian Benepe, Commissioner, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

Laura Manville, Policy Coordinator

Fredric Bell, FAIA, Executive Director, AIA NY Chapter

Fredric Bell, FAIA, Executive Director

Amanda Burden, Hon. AIA NY, Commissioner, NYC Department of City Planning
David Burney, FAIA, Commissioner, NYC Department of Design and Construction

Acknowledgements:
Vishaan Chakrabarti, AIA, Executive Vice President, Related Companies
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Commissioner

Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Commissioner,

NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Mary Bassett, MD, MPH, Deputy Commissioner,

Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP)

Jan Gehl, Hon. FAIA, Principal, Gehl Architects

Stephanie Gelb, AIA, Chief Architect, Battery Park City Authority

Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP, Assistant Commissioner,

Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, HPDP
Karen K. Lee, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Deputy Director,
Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, HPDP
Victoria Grimshaw, MPH, Program Assistant, Built Environment Program,
Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, HPDP

Robyne Kassen, Assoc. AIA, Pedestrian Studio

Joyce Lee, AIA, Chief Architect, NYC Office of Management and Budget
Brandon Mitchell, Director of Development, Full Spectrum New York City
Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner, NYC Department of Transportation
James Sallis, PhD, Director, Active Living Research
Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, FAAP, Assistant Commissioner,
NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
Alexandros Washburn, AIA, Chief Urban Designer,
NYC Department of City Planning

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